


Red Neighbor

by quartermile



Series: Neighbors [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Bucky Burnes, Continued, Domestic Avengers, M/M, Meet-Cute, Neighbors, Neighbors Series, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Someone Please Draw This, Sunburn, copious amounts of aloe vera, miserable bucky, omg I'm so lame sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-11
Updated: 2015-04-11
Packaged: 2018-03-22 10:00:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3724696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quartermile/pseuds/quartermile
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Here is the next installment of my Steve and Bucky Neighbors 'verse. I hope you guys enjoy it. It's taken longer than I intended to get it up but I finally did it! :D How many of you have accidentally fallen asleep and well. This?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Red Neighbor

Steve’s morning coffee time varies every day. It depends on the day, how late he slept that morning and if he even slept the night before. His morning coffee can range from actual morning until two or three in the afternoon.

Today in particular, his morning coffee ends up being nearly afternoon tea. He stirs at the liquid in the mug, blowing over the top of it to cool it as he walks out onto his small balcony. Its warm enough he immediately figures he should have traded in the tea for iced coffee but who cares, right?

He catches something in the corner of his eye and turns his head, nearly choking on his tea as he spots naked neighbor.

No. Not naked. He has on shorts.

There’s an open book on his lap with what looks like a reading light connected to it as if he’d moved out there when it wasn’t fully light out but had fallen asleep. In sleep, he looks so innocent and adorable.

Steve smiles to himself as he lets his eyes run over his neighbor’s body before turning back to his tea and checking his work email on his phone. 

It takes until he’s struggling to read his iPhone’s screen because of the sun that he realizes Bucky is laying directly in the sun, nothing covering his body except for a pair of shorts. _Ohh._ That’ll probably be a pretty painful sunburn. He’s got to do something.

“Hey Bucky!” he calls, watching for a moment. Nothing. 

“Bucky!” He calls a bit louder, and despite the close proximity, Bucky doesn’t move.

“ _Bucky!_ ” He yells but all the sleeping form does is shift ever so slightly.

He thinks maybe throwing something would work but he doesn’t want to accidentally hurt him since it’d have to be thrown pretty hard to even bother him. 

He glances down at his half empty mug of tea and has an idea. He stands and hurries back into his kitchen, finding a medium sized bowl in his cabinet and filling it with water. He feels bad already but he knows if he lets Bucky stay out there, he could get dehydrated or badly, badly burnt.

He walks back out onto his balcony and tries once again just to be nice, “Hey Bucky! Wake up!” 

Nothing.

He sighs and shrugs, taking a deep, preparing breath as if he was the one who was about to get doused and briefly hopes that Bucky doesn’t have his phone on him. As for the book, well, Steve will replace it if it gets too wet.

In one swift move, he tosses the water over in Bucky’s direction. A little bit falls to the ground between the two apartments but a good portion makes it to it’s destination: over the top of Bucky’s head.

With a loud yell and the flailing of his limbs, Bucky awakes with a start, having to immediately balance himself so he doesn’t topple over in his chair.

“What the hell?” He yells, blinking a few times in a row before shaking the dripping water from his hair. He peers around, confused for a moment before his eyes finally track back over to a sheepish looking Steve who he just stares at in annoyed confusion.

“I’m _so_ sorry, Buck, but you wouldn’t wake up. I yelled a couple times but you didn’t move and I didn’t know how long you’d been out but I figured awhile because of the reading light and I was scared you were going to get sunburned or dehydrated or something,” Steve rambles.

Bucky blinks again, the confusion in his eyes clearing and he peers around again, seemingly noticing the sun for the first time before looking back over to Steve, “Oh. Thanks,” he says, “I couldn’t sleep so I came out here to read and I guess I did fall asleep. Thank you for waking me up.”

“I’m just sorry I had to use water. Yelling your name didn’t work though. I’ll replace your book if it got too wet,” he offers.

Bucky looks down at it and inspects it for a moment before closing it and shaking his head, “No, it only got a few drops on it. I’m going to move inside to finish my nap. Thanks again.”

Steve just nods and watches drenched-Bucky make his way back inside before sagging down into his chair feeling incredibly embarrassed for reasons he can’t quite put a finger on. 

“Well, might as well finish my tea,” he mutters.

-=-

It’s around six thirty that evening and Steve is standing at his easel painting when there’s a knock on the door. Figuring it’s just Sam or Clint and Natasha, he goes over to the door and opens it just in passing, already headed back to his painting when he stops in his tracks at a distressed whimper.

He jerks back around his eyes widening when he takes in the sight.

Bucky is standing in his doorway, a fleecy blue blanket over his head and draped around his shoulders. All he can see of him is his face which is bright red.

“Oh my…” He starts.

Bucky moves, slowly pulling his arm from under the blanket and presenting a bottle of Aloe Vera cream, “Please help me. Everything hurts.”

Steve gapes for a moment before waving Bucky forward, “Come in,” he says, shutting the door behind him, “Oh my God, are you okay?”

“No,” Bucky whines in a way that could put a five year old to shame, “Everything hurts and my skin burns but I’m so cold and I need aloe but moving hurts and please help me I know it’s a lot to ask but can you put it on for me?” 

Steve gives a short laugh, feeling a hot rush of arousal flow through him at the thought of rubbing things on Bucky’s body but he quickly tampers the feeling. Bucky is in pain and he needs him.

“Alright, you probably have a fever from the burn. That’s probably why you’re so cold. That used to happen to me. Have you taken anything?” he asks.

Bucky shakes his head, looking more miserable than Steve’s ever seen anyone look, and he’s spent a good portion of his childhood in hospitals. Steve nods and goes to his bathroom, grabbing the bottle of Tylenol and shaking out two of the capsules. He hurries back into the kitchen and fills a cup of water, handing both to Bucky who slowly reaches up to take them, “Take these. It’s just Tylenol. It’ll help with the fever.” He says.

Bucky nods and places them both on his tongue, swallowing them down with the full glass of water. Steve takes it back and fills it up again, “Here. You need to drink plenty of water so you don’t get dehydrated. I expect you’re already halfway there as it is.”

“Alright,” Steve says, just to fill the silence, picking up the bottle of Aloe Vera and reading on the back to see if there were any kind of restriction on how often to use it as some are.

“I’ll get out of your hair when you’re done,” Bucky says.

“No. You’re going to stay here so I can keep an eye on you,” Steve replies with a firm nod, “I’m going to make sure you drink enough water and you don’t start getting blisters.”

Bucky gives a nod and Steve thinks he probably could care less as long as his skin cooled down. Steve takes the edge of the blanket, carefully unwrapping it from around Bucky so he doesn’t have to move so much. Luckily, since he’d been in a chair, his back side is perfectly fine but there is a noticeable line all along his body of where the sun hit of red. He’s got a different pair of shorts on from this morning that are a little shorter so he can see just a hint of pale skin on his legs. 

He’s shirtless still, which Steve has to force himself to not pay too much attention to which isn’t as hard when he’s gaping at the bright red skin all along the front of Bucky’s body. He tries not to laugh at the small square of non-burnt skin on his thigh that was, presumably, Bucky’s book he was reading but he can’t stop a small snicker.

Bucky hears him, giving him a small glare before a smile quirks over his lips, “Don’t laugh at me, punk. It hurts.”

“I know it does, Buck. I used to get sunburned a lot as a kid,” he says, popping the top on the bottle, “Can you hold out your arms? That might make it a little easier to get everywhere.”

Bucky nods and carefully extends his arms out to the side. He winces which scrunches his nose which irritates the burn on his face making him whine out loud, “Just put me out of my misery and put me on ice until this is over.”

Steve laughs and shakes his head, “Sorry. You’ve got to suffer through it like us mere mortals.”

“Are you implying that I am not just a mere mortal?” Bucky asks, the smirk audible in his voice.

“Well duh. I mean, have you seen yourself?” Steve blurts before realizing what he’d said, his cheeks turning about as red as Bucky’s skin.

“Did Stevie just say that he thinks I’m hot?” Bucky teases, a brilliant smile lighting up his face.

“Shut up,” Steve teases back, his cheeks burning as he focusing completely on trying to gently rub the Aloe Vera into Bucky’s skin. He notices Bucky tense up just slightly as he starts on his left arm. He remembers Bucky telling him about the accident he’d had to cause the scars littering his arm, so he turns his attention elsewhere, “Well did you have a nice nap at least?”

Bucky laughs and shrugs, though he winces immediately after, “It was great until I woke myself up by scratching my chest and it felt like I was on fire.”

Steve snickers again, nodding as he moves onto Bucky’s smooth chest, rubbing the Aloe in. It takes a tremendous amount of self-restraint to just touch and not really let himself feel or he would never stop. He doesn’t know if he’ll ever be able to smell the cool peppermint scent of Aloe Vera again without being a little turned on.

“I made brownies earlier if you’d like one,” Steve says a few minutes later as he finishes with the aloe. He sits the bottle to the side and picks Bucky’s blanket up as he catches him shivering. He carefully helps him wrap himself back up and steers Bucky-Burrito toward the couch, wincing himself as Bucky whines as he sits.

“I’d love some. Thank you Steve, for everything.” Bucky replies.

“It’s not a problem at all,” Steve answers with a smile.

“We hardly know each other at all and I show up here half naked, begging you to lather me up and you did it without batting an eye,” Bucky says.

“I wasn’t going to leave you in pain. Besides, I don’t mind taking care of people. It helps me make up for all the times people have had to take care of me,” Steve says.

“So, how about you let me take you out for dinner as a thank you? You know, once I’m not bright red or peeling like a lizard,” Bucky asks, a smirk taking over his lips but Steve can see the nervousness in his eyes.

He feels his heart skip and he grins widely, nodding as he takes the top off of his brownie container, “Yeah. Yeah, I’d like that.”


End file.
